A Mega Millions player in Georgia won the $980 million jackpot on Friday, overcoming abysmal odds to win the huge prize.
The numbers selected were 1, 8, 11, 12 and 57 with the gold Mega Ball 7.
The winner overcame Mega Millions' astronomical odds of 1 in 290.5 million by matching all six numbers. The next drawing will be on Tuesday.
A winner can choose an annuity or the cash option — a one-time, lump-sum payment of $452.2 million before taxes. If there are multiple jackpot winners, the prize is shared.
There were four Mega Millions jackpot wins earlier this year, but Friday’s drawing was the 40th since the last win on June 27, a game record, officials said.
In September, two Powerball players in Missouri and Texas won a nearly $1.8 billion jackpot, one of the largest in the U.S. The current Mega Millions jackpot isn’t among the top 10 U.S. lottery jackpots but would be the eighth-largest for Mega Millions since the game began in 2002.
Mega Millions offers lesser prizes in addition to the jackpot. The odds of winning any of these is 1 in 23.
There were more than 800,000 winners of non-jackpot prizes from the Nov. 11 drawing.
Tickets are $5 each and are sold in 45 states, Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Half the proceeds from each Mega Millions ticket remains in the jurisdiction where the ticket was sold. Local lottery agencies run the game in each jurisdiction and how profits are spent is dictated by law.
Sometimes gambling can become addictive.
The National Council on Problem Gambling defines problem gambling as “gambling behavior that is damaging to a person or their family, often disrupting their daily life and career.”
It is sometimes called gambling addiction or gambling disorder, a recognized mental health diagnosis. The group says anyone who gambles can be at risk.
Its National Problem Gambling Helpline, 1-800-522-4700, connects anyone seeking assistance with a gambling problem to local resources.
FILE - Mega Millions Lottery play slips are displayed for customers at a convenience store in Chicago, Sunday, April 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh, file)
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — A second flight carrying Iranians deported from the United States has left America, Iranian officials said, as Washington reportedly planned to send hundreds of prisoners back to the Islamic Republic.
The deportations come as tensions remain high between Iran and the U.S. after America bombed Iranian nuclear sites during Tehran's 12-day war with Israel in June. Activists abroad also have expressed concern about deportees returning to Iran, whose theocracy has been cracking down on intellectuals and executing prisoners at a rate unseen in decades.
A report published Monday by the Mizan news agency, the official mouthpiece of the Iran's judiciary, quoted Iranian Foreign Ministry official Mojtaba Shasti Karimi acknowledging the deportation of 55 Iranians.
“These individuals announced their willingness for return following continuation of anti-immigration and discriminative policy against foreign nationals particularly Iranians by the United States,” Karimi reportedly said.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei also said Sunday there were plans for 55 Iranians to return to the Islamic Republic.
Based on the U.S. claims, “the Iranians were repatriated because of legal reasons and breach of immigration regulations," Baghaei said.
The U.S. government did not immediately acknowledge the deportation flight and it wasn't clear whether the plane had arrived yet in Tehran. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security and State Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment from The Associated Press early Monday.
The deportations represent a collision of a top priority of President Donald Trump — targeting illegal immigration — against a decades-long practice by the U.S. of welcoming Iranian dissidents, exiles and others since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
In September, Iranian officials acknowledged as many as 400 Iranians could be returned under the Trump administration policy. That month, the first such flight arrived in Tehran.
In the lead up to and after the 1979 revolution, a large number of Iranians fled to the U.S. In the decades since, the U.S. had been sensitive in allowing those fleeing from Iran over religious, sexual or political persecution to seek residency. Iran has maintained only those facing criminal charges face prosecution, while others can travel freely. However, Tehran has detained Westerns and others with ties abroad in the past to be exchanged in prisoner swaps.
Iran has criticized Washington for hosting dissidents and others in the past. U.S. federal prosecutors have accused Iran of hiring hitmen to target dissidents as well in America.
Gambrell reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
Cars drive in an afternoon traffic jam in a high air pollution in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
